Fall Into The Sky
by dnrl
Summary: Hundred themes challenge; Percabeth. 10: years
1. beginnings

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

* * *

1: beginnings

* * *

He often wondered how long he had felt this way.

Could it really have been from the first moment he saw her? If so, "love at first sight" was certainly a slow-in-coming business. Perhaps it was...at the dance at Westover Hall. She had seemed so grown-up, so beautiful then. That was a possibility. Or maybe...maybe...

He sighed, letting himself sink back into the silken sheets of his bunk.

Maybe it was something that was born...over time. Maybe it was something that had begun, small and helpless, as the basic seeds of a relationship - not even a friendship, something less. Not enemies, just...people. And then over time, slowly, as water erodes rock, something had happened. Something had _changed_.

He remembered hearing from his mother about a discovery some scientists had made. There was a certain kind of plant - a tree? - that never seemed to blossom. It just stood, changing with the seasons, but no buds ever progessed; no flowers ever bloomed on its branches. They were beginning to wonder how on earth a tree like that could survive...

And then, almost a hundred years after the first observation, blossoms began appearing on the tree, ethereal and beautiful. He thought about that for a moment, and wondered if maybe that was what was happening. The potential for...for _this_...had always been there, hiding in the leafy branches of rivalry and friendship...and now, after nurturing, after patience and care, maybe now those blossoms were finally coming out - and they were beautiful. They were _so _beautiful.

He closed his eyes and let the sound of the fountain in the back lull him to sleep. The ocean roared gently in the background, waves smashing and crashing against a sandy shore like the waves of time. Time...

He had enough time. Not forever...he was still mortal. But...he had a lifetime stretching ahead, a lifetime made of years in which he could carefully care for those ever-growing blossoms until they became something unlike anything before.

A new age was beginning.

* * *


	2. middles

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

2: middles

It is noon when he stumbles out of bed, bleary-eyed and cursing mildly. He has missed two classes, but at least he had finished his term paper last night - well, this morning. Showering wakes him up a little bit more, but it is not until he steps into the kitchen that he is fully awake.

There is an angel in his kitchen.

She's in the middle making coffee.

He thinks he might love this angel, and he tells her so.

She raises an eyebrow at him, and says, "Seaweed Brain, if that's all it takes to get you to love someone I'd better watch you pretty carefully."

...Annabeth.

He smiles and nuzzles her neck, feeling her golden curly hair tickle the skin on his nose. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer until he can smell her skin, the Dove soap she used, her peaches-and-cream Herbal Essences shampoo. No perfume or makeup. Never. She doesn't need them, either. Which is good, because he likes natural.

Her small hands are resting, one in the small of his back and the other at the nape of his neck. Her nose is pressed into his shoulder, and he can feel her smile through his undershirt. He hums contentedly and wraps his arms around her middle, rocking her gently. She sighs, short and soft, happy, and draws circles in the middle of his shoulder blades.

This is a moment that he thinks should be a middle moment.

Well, that's what his mother calls them - those little moments in everyday life that you just wish would go on forever and a day. A moment in the middle of things that is absolute perfection, like a cool breeze and a sweet smell during the hottest, balmiest days of summer. Like your first kiss. Like right now, he thinks, when he is holding the only woman he's ever really loved so close to him, when he can feel her eyelashes flutter against his shoulder and her breath splash across his chest and her smile as she pulls herself closer to him.

It is almost as intimate as sex, but on a different sort of level, because Annabeth will never, ever let herself be seen like this. Her mother has trained her to be strong and independant, and this kind of embrace, where she leans on him, would be seen as a weakness by her brothers and sisters and mother. So he knows that she is forgoing what she has learned all of her life, and he knows that she loves him that much.

He knows that he loves her that much.

This will always be a middle moment.

* * *


	3. ends

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

3: ends

She knew that you probably shouldn't sit under a tree in a thunderstorm, but she did it anyway, because somehow she doubted that lightning would strike this particular tree. Thalia would get a little...angry...if it did.

Of course, it wasn't supposed to rain in Camp Half-Blood anyway, and yet here she sat, her jeans soaked in rain, the mud drenching the now-dark-blue cloth. Her bright orange shirt was darker too, her hair a dark, dull yellow because of the rain. She blinked away the water from her eyes, but it was hot. Tears.

Damn, weren't they done crying yet? She had told her eyes over half and hour ago to _get over it_. It was done, it was over, the event had ended and everyone had gone home. So why was she still her crying when no one else was here?

**_Because_** _no one else is here, _said that voice in her head. It sounded like her mother, and it kind of disturbed her - but it was right. The only reason - the _only_ reason - that she was allowing herself to cry over this was because no one could see her. No one, especially not in this thunderstorm.

And the real reason she was crying was because of that stupid Silena from Aphrodite cabin, and that annoying, idiot, pompous, big-headed, useless, stupid little -

"Annabeth?"

...Percy.

She stayed very still and very silent, hoping that the rain would shroud her presence, that Thalia's old tree would hide her as she pressed up against the trunk. She couldn't deal with him right now, she just couldn't do it without falling to pieces, and she was already enough of a puzzle, thank you very much. She didn't need little bits of Annabeth scattered all around camp - in the arena, where she loved to vent; by the beach, where she always watched the sunrise; in her cabin, with her brothers and sister; here, under the tree...everywhere she felt most herself.

She hugged herself closer, curling into herself, and then - then she felt a warm hand touch her cold, wet arm tentatively. It was dry. "Percy."

"Annabeth." She couldn't look up. His voice was so soft, so sad. Tired. Had he really been looking this whole time? "I looked everywhere." Yes, then. "I went to the arena, the track, the beach, your cabin...no one knew where you were." And that was her plan, wasn't it? Why hadn't she just used the invisibility cap?

She just couldn't even think anymore.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't answer, feeling her pieces begin to fall apart around her ears. She felt him settle down in the dirt next to her, shifting until he was comfortable. "I guess I'll just wait with you, then," he said.

"Silenca," she said, her voice hoarse.

"What about her?"

"You and her. Are you officially an item now?"

"...what?"

"Y'know." She sniffled; rainwater was getting in her nose. "A couple. Together."

"No," he said, his voice surprised. "Actually, I think she has a thing for Beckendorf at the moment. Why would you think that we were...like...dating?"

"You guys were standing so close, I thought..."

"No." She could just imagine him blinking, the surprise gradually fading away in those green eyes, replaced by understanding. "We were walking - well, I was going to the dining pavilion, and she was going back to her cabin. She swerved to avoid the Stoll brothers, and her charm bracelet got caught on my shirt." He sighed and shifted. "That's all." He squirmed again. "I think I'm sitting on a root," he said at last.

She smiled to herself, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her arms wrapped around them, and her face was buried, hidden, so she could smile. "I'm sure Thalia likes that," she chuckled.

"I'm sure Thalia's wondering if she can smite me from wherever she is," he grumbled. "I just grew my eyebrows back from the last time she tried."

This time she actually laughed out loud, and she looked up to see him watching her, his green eyes pensive, his mouth drawn into a thoughtful frown. When he caught sight of her eyes, he smiled and pushed himself off the ground, futilely trying to wipe the mud from the seat of his shorts. "Ah, whatever," he said at last, wiping his hand on his shirt before offering it to her. She took it and pulled herself up.

The next few moments happened in slow motion.

She took a step forward as Percy stepped back, his hand slipping away. A root appeared from out of nowhere, a loop just big enough to catch her foot. It snagged and she fell, feeling her tentatively restructure pieces scattering as the mud loomed nearer and nearer -

And then she was safe.

Relatively speaking.

Percy was holding her up, his arms around her waist, her torso flush against his, keeping her from falling into the mud. She pulled herself up with shaky arms, her hands tightening on his upper arms. She looked down, feeling the pieces trembling inside of her. _I will not break, I will not break, I will not break_.

And then the saving arms became embracing arms. She leaned into it, and she felt a net around her, holding the pieces together far better than she could ever do on her own. And so she looked up just in time - catching sea green eyes with her own, she slowly and deliberately put her lips on his.

This feeling, this was like not being a puzzle at all. It wasn't like fitting together two different pieces to come up with another picture. It was natural, like lightning and thunder, sea and beach, life and death. Percy and Annabeth.

And everything was alright, because the puzzle was over. This was a new end.

* * *


	4. insides

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

4: insides

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! That is _disgusting_!"

Annabeth shot a deadpan look at the girl across the lab table. The thing was wearing an operating mask, had on large yellow rubber gloves, and wore protective goggles over her eyes. A plastic trashbag covered her uniform to protect it from -

"_Frog guts_!" the girl wailed, clutching at the poor boy who stood next to her, holding the scalpel and regarding the mass of sobbing female on his arm as some sort of growth. Annabeth sighed, flicked a stray curl out of her eye, and went back to the frog. She had decided to name him Kermit, because he was the only one who stood a chance of conversing with her intelligently in this class and thus deserved a name. She pulled out the folds of his stomach that she had sliced open and pinned them to the tray carefully so as not to rent the skin in two. Intactness of the specimen was part of their grade for the lab activity.

"Dude," said the boy next to her, looking a bit green. "You're not even wearing gloves."

"They get in the way," she told him, briskly handling the small organs inside the amphibian. _Heart, check. Intestines, check. Gender - male. Good._

She laid out the parts in order like Mrs. Cox had asked them to, and then washed her hands at the back sink. She dried them off and had only just reached the table again when the bell rang. _Thank the gods for small favors._ She turned in her tray to Mrs. Cox, who gave her an approving smile, shouldered her schoolbag and left to join the stampede in the hallways. Friday Frenzy was always the worse - screaming, flinging off of uniform jackets, lockers slamming shut all around, cell phones and mp3 players out in hordes, and girls changing into "weekend clothes" in the bathroom. She ignored the chaos as best as she was able and fought her way to her locker. _I almost prefer the Hydra to this._ Stuffing her books inside, she closed it and forced the rusty padlock shut before turning and charging through the solid wall of her peers.

She stepped out onto the sunny side steps, thankful that almost everyone used the front stairs. The bright light of the sun - _hi, Apollo_ - beat through her clothes, her navy jacket sucking up the heat like a black hole. She was glad that she had her hair in a ponytail - it wouldn't get stuck to her sweaty neck this way. She took off her jacket, folded it, and stuck it in her bag. Her plaid, knee-length, blue-and-white skirt swished against her kneecaps, begging to be removed..._soon_, she told it. She had forgotten to wear P.E. shorts under the skirt this morning. Her white blouse cast a sort of glow about her due to the light.

"Annabeth?"

She looked up from where she stood zipping up her schoolbag. _No way_.

"Percy?"

He grinned broadly and bounced a bit on the seat of his bike. One foot acted as a kickstand while the other played with the pedals. "What's up, Wise Girl?"

She blinked at him, descending the stairs with a happy smile on her face. "Just got out. What are _you_ doing here?"

"We're out for the summer," he told her with a lopsided grin. "I usually ride my bike around here, but I've never seen you before...I guess 'cause we were both got out at the same time." He looked around. "Where's your ride?"

She grimaced. "I walk home," she told him. "My dad and stepmom rented some apartment up that way, and it's not that much of a walk. Sucks during summer, though."

He patted the handlebars. "Want a ride?"

"I can't."

"I'll drive; you don't have to do anything."

"_I can't._"

"Why not?"

"..."

"...Is this some kind of personal thing?"

"No! I...just...I forgot to put on...um...shorts. Underneath my skirt. So, you know, it'd be kind of hard..."

He blushed a deep red and chuckled awkwardly. "Why don't you just tuck your skirt really tightly under your legs? I mean, then it couldn't fly up...right?"

She blinked at him and then considered it. "Yeah, I guess it would."

He grinned again. "Hop on," he told her.

Wraping her skirt firmly around her legs, she pushed herself onto the bridge between the handlebars and grabbed the bars tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Okay."

"Here we go," he told her, pushing off.

She had never done this before in her life...the only thing that she could compare it to was chariot racing. They swayed with the same motion...all that was missing was the chariot. And the horses. And the reins. _This is nothing like riding a chariot!_ She felt her adrenaline rushing, which wasn't a good thing, seeing as her senses were already hyperactive. She bit her lip and gripped even tighter, her palms sweaty. _Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods..._

A gentle, calloused hand ran over her fingers gently, and she felt a wave of calm wash over her. _It's okay. Everything'll be okay._

"We're stopping now," he told her as they gently glided to the sidewalk in front of her building. "This is it, right?"

"Got it in one, Seaweed Brain," she told him, clambering down. Her legs were shaking.

He smiled softly at her. "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Just freaked me out, y'know? Like riding a horse for the first time."

He laughed. "My first horse ride was great," he joked. She smacked him lightly on the head.

"Thanks for the ride, Seaweed Brain."

"You're very welcome, Wise Girl."

He leaned forward to pick something out of her hair.

"Frog guts," he said, grinning. "I remember this lab...it was fun. I didn't use gloves."

"Neither did I."

An awkward silence attempted to settle, but she fought it back ferociously. "So, hey...I get out next week."

"Cool. You heading straight back to camp?"

She looked up at the building that housed her family and sighed fondly, shaking her head. "I'm gonna try to stay...at least for a little while. Maybe we can go back together," she said. He nodded.

"Hey, do you wanna catch a movie next Friday?" he asked. "That Adam Sandler movie looks pretty good."

She raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. Are you gonna catch a building on fire and ruin our plans again?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I'll do my best not to," he promised.

She smiled. "Okay, then. Next Friday. You'll pick me up from school? We get off at eleven." He nodded happily.

They waved goodbye, and he pedaled off down the street. She watched him until he turned the corner, leaning against the side of her building. "Well, Kermit," she told the absent frog, "I owe you one. I finally got my date."

_And that, children, is proof that good always comes from the insides._

* * *


	5. outsides

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

5: outsides

"You're covered in paint."

"Thank you, I hadn't realized."

"Sarcasm unnecessary, Wise Girl."

"No, Seaweed Brain, sarcasm is infinitely necessary. You see, it distracts me from my anger and keeps me from _killing you_."

"What did _I_ do?!"

"I'm covered in paint!"

"Which is my fault how?"

"Percy - "

"Don't sigh at me, I'm serious! I hadn't even seen you today until two minutes ago!"

"Look, Percy, I...my brothers decided to have some fun with paint-filled balloons and my car, and I've stopped at every gas station between here and the airport trying to get this disgusting orange _acrylic paint_ off of me, but it won't come off, and then the first time I see my boyfriend in three weeks the first thing he says is 'Oh, look, paint!' I'm just pissed, okay? I can't deal with this right now..."

"Annabeth..."

"You're using your pity voice."

"I'm not using - I don't have - pity voice?"

"Pity voice. You know, the 'Oh I feel sorry so I'll say something I don't mean to cheer you up' voice."

"I don't have a pity voice, and if I did I wouldn't use it in this situation! Look, I'm sorry...I missed you. Really I did, so much. Nico threatened to change his number if I called him to talk about you one more time, and Grover stopped answering. Thalia said that I was being stupid, that you would be back soon, but still...stupid seminar. Why didn't they allow phones?"

"Because the whole idea of the seminar was to show our dependance of modern technology, Percy. A cell phone would have kind of defeated the purpose."

"Screw the purpose, I missed you. See, look, you're smiling! I missed that too. I missed a lot of things."

"Clearly."

"What, no 'I missed you too, Percy?'"

"No."

"Wha - ?!"

"Kidding, kidding. Touchy, Seaweed Brain. I missed you too, you insecure blob of jelly."

"I am a very well-defined, good-looking blob of jelly, thank you very much."

"Modest, too."

"Oh yes. Infinitely."

"Come here, my infinitely modest devilishly handsome blob of jelly."

"Mmm."

"Mmm indeed. I missed _that _quite a bit."

"Must agree with you there."

"You know - mmm - if it, ah, helps any - ahh - you look great in orange."

"Oh, you are so on the couch tonight."

* * *


	6. hours

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

6: hours

Silena worried at her lower lip with her teeth, her fingers drumming out a rhythm on the table.

_Where are they...?_

And that was the question. Quintus's challenge was over; everyone had returned...well. Everyone but _them_.

She huffed in a decidedly unladylike manner and rested her chin in her hand. Chiron and the rest of the camp were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and nobody but Silena was even stopping to think about where Annabeth and Percy had been for the past hour. She rolled her eyes. Gods, but these campers were stupid sometimes.

A tall, blond boy from the Athena cabin came to a stop in front of her. His head was swiveling around so fast it was practically on a wheel, and his gray eyes were wide and wild about the edges. "Silena," he panted, "_why _aren't you helping look?"

She shrugged, flicking an imaginary piece of dust off of her shoulder. "Look, they clearly don't _want_ to be found. Why waste effort?"

He glared. "They could be dead or dying and unable to call for help! One of them could be unconcious, and the other could be incapacitated, or they could have fallen down somewhere and we just can't hear them, or - "

"_Or _they could be frantically necking in a tree like two hormonal teenagers," she suggested innocently. "Because, y'know, that's what they _are_. But let's go with that more cheerful 'dead-or-dying' option, yeah?"

"Wait...what?"

"Aw, did I break your poor love-challenged brain?" she teased. She stood up, brushing some left-over dirt from her jeans.

"Okay, listen you."

She quirked an eyebrow. _You?_

"My _sister_," he said, his face a ferocious, angry red, "would not _ever_ go _necking_ with that...that...thing!"

"Man, heads up: you are one of those many _things _that we females refer to as _men. _And frankly," she said cheerfully, dancing towards him, "you really should embrace the horrible, horrible truth that your sister is _quite_ interested in making out with that _thing_, as you so tactfully call him."

She threw an arm around his shoulders, taking in his horrified face. "Now that you've seen my reasoning, let's point out another fact. Percy and Annabeth are clearly hot for each other. They have some time alone. Together. And now they're missing. Together."

He paled.

Silena swooped in for the kill. "For _hours._"

* * *

**A/N** Ahah. Hahahahahaa...y'know, I was sitting here wondering why Fall Into The Sky hadn't gotten any new reviews, and then I realized...I didn't post the freakin' chapter. God, am I intelligent or what?

* * *


	7. days

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

7: day

The silence was _killing_ him.

Grover sat in between his two stubborn best friends, head cradled in his hands as he tried to figure out how exactly he could rectify the situation. Annabeth sat at his left, arms folded and a petulant pout set into her mouth (not that he would ever tell her that; she'd deny any sort of childish connection and would probably hit him). Percy sat at his right hand, looking out over the strawberry fields and fuming silently. Every now and again he would huff an angry sigh; once or twice Grover thought he heard muttered words beneath the noise, but he ignored them steadfastly.

"Guys..." he said, drawing out the sound. Anything to break the silence. "Really. Come on. You could be a bit more mature about this."

"Oh, please," Annabeth said coldly. "Percy isn't capable of maturity."

Percy spoke up. "You know, Grover, I've never met anyone who's more immature than Annabeth."

"It's like he sinks to whole new levels of childishness," continued the blond girl, rolling her eyes. "Gods, it's pathetic."

"It's almost like she's five," complained Percy.

"Will you please stop ignoring each other?" begged the satyr.

"Absolutely not." Annabeth.

"Like hell." Percy.

"Please?" Grover.

Silence.

_Damn_, thought Grover. "Demigods!" he huffed. "Always so melodramatic!"

"Me? Melodramatic?" demanded Annabeth, brows furrowed in angry confusion. "Please! It's not my fault that some stupid Seaweed Brain can't accept the truth. It's simple fact - my mom is better than his dad."

"She's so deep in denial, Grover," mused Percy. "She should probably be drowning by now. I mean, she actually believes that her mom is better than my dad!"

"History proves my theory!" Annabeth declared to Grover, nodding conspiritorialy. Grover was having none of it.

"So? Who cares? Athena and Poseidon have never stopped your friendship before! I mean, come on, Annabeth, your mom practically _threatened_ Percy and he still stayed your friend!"

Beside him, Percy groaned. Annabeth spun around to face him, grass stalks breaking beneath her as she turned. "She _what_?" she breathed.

"You didn't tell her?" Grover asked, mystified. Percy sighed, turning to face his friends.

"No, I didn't. I didn't want her to worry about upsetting her mom, and if Athena ever asked why she was still my friend she could plead innocence and get off easy."

"Percy," said Annabeth, her voice soft.

Percy bit his lip and looked back out to the strawberry fields. "Look, okay, it wasn't that big of a deal; it wasn't really a threat, I mean, it was okay..."

"But...a goddess semi-threatened you."

Percy laughed. "Did you honestly think that even a real threat could just...make me not be your friend anymore? If you don't want to be my friend, that's fine; but no one can _make_ me stop being a friend to you."

"..." Annabeth stared at Percy for a long moment before lunging across the open space between them. She tackled him in a huge bear hug. "You are so stupid, Seaweed Brain," she mumbled into his chest. "Jeez."

Grover smiled softly as Percy gently hugged Annabeth back.

He pretended he didn't notice the lovestruck look on his friend's face.

"So," said Grover, "are we good?"

The two pulled back and looked one another over.

"Truce?" Percy asked.

"Truce," agreed Annabeth. "And Percy?"

"Yeah, Wise Girl?"

"No more of this not-talking thing."

Percy grinned. "Agreed. I couldn't stand it, not talking to you."

Grover smiled and said nothing as they walked down the hillside. Despite the arguing, despite the misunderstanding, despite everything that hung over them like the sword above Damocles head...this was a good day.

* * *


	8. weeks

**

* * *

**

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

8: weeks

* * *

_"Everything will be an eye-opener to you. There's a thousand planets out there, a thousand races, and I'll show everything to you, soon as I learn my way around again. Maybe I can make up a little for everything you've done for me."_

She didn't understand. It was just an old Star Trek episode, there was no reason for her to tear up like she was. Of course, there was also no reason to be up at three in the morning on a Tuesday – wait. Wednesday now. Oops. She sighed and brushed a tear out of her eye brusquely, annoyed with herself. _I hate these hormones_, she grumbled.

The bed shifted next to her and Percy rolled over to face her. His eyes looked up at her, filled with the fuzzy, sleepy look that she thought was absolutely adorable. He smiled, a long, lazy expression, and stretched, pushing himself up to sit against the headboard with her. She leaned into him as he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

_"I can't go with you, Zefram._"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "You're crying over Star Trek?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly and still a bit muzzy from sleepiness. "Seriously?"

She made a face and gently poked him in the side. He flinched, more out of habit than anything else, and gently rolled her earlobe between his fingers.

"Yes, seriously," she groused, cuddling deeper into his side. "Shut up."

He actually did as she asked for a few minutes, settling back with her and watching the episode.

_"Of course you can. You have to."_

_"My life emanates from this place. If I should leave it for more than a tiny march of days, I'll cease to exist. I must return, even as you must consume matter to maintain your life."_

_"You gave up everything to be human? But even if you stay here, you'll eventually die."_

_"The joy of this hour ... I am pleased."_

_"I can't just fly away and leave you here."_

_"You must be free, Zefram Cochrane."_

Here Percy snorted. "Zefram…"

She huffed a sigh and gave him a half-hearted glare. "Come _on_, her one true love is leaving her behind and all you can think of is his _name_?"

"Well, maybe if I understood what was going _on_…"

"She's an alien who took control of the body of this woman who was dying so that she could learn the love. She's cared for this man and saved him from death, but she had no idea what love was. So she gave up her powers and immortality, and now he's leaving her, and – are you even paying attention?"

He looked up from where he was nuzzling her belly button. "Yes?"

She smiled and tugged on the lock of gray in his hair. "If I could control what he could do," she told Percy, "I would have had him break your nose."

"_She_," Percy emphasized, resting a hand on top of his wife's swollen stomach, "would _never_ hurt her Daddy – ow!"

"His Mommy will," Annabeth said gleefully. She pinched Percy again.

He pouted and batted her hand away. "You are no fun."

"I'm plenty of fun. You just don't appreciate the kind of fun I offer," she replied with a smirk.

"And what kind of fun would that be, Mrs. Jackson?" he asked, resting his head on her belly and looking up at her.

"Oh, I think you know," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. She flashed a sultry look from beneath lowered lashes. He got a decidedly bedroom look on his face.

"I like that kind of fun," he said, smiling.

"But Percy," she protested, her face a mask of innocence, "you told me you hated chess!"

He looked at her completely serious face for a moment before burying _his _face in her belly as she laughed at him. "You can't get my hopes up like that!" he complained, although the words were muffled due to his mouth being trapped beneath his head and her stomach. She giggled.

"Percy, that tickles!"

"Does it really?" he asked, coming up with a fiendish smile on his face.

"Um, no," she replied quickly, bringing her hands up to cover her neck. "No, it doesn't. Not at all."

_"There's plenty of water here. The climate's good for growing things. I might plant a fig tree. A man's entitled to that, isn't he?"_

"Well, I think you're lying, Annabeth," he growled, a predatory look in his eyes. He slowly raised his hands up from the bed, towards her neck. She squeaked and attempted to shimmy away.

"No no nonono!" she squealed. His hands suddenly dove down and exploited her ticklish and, unfortunately, expanded sides. "Ack! Percy – Percy – ha, aha, Percy, oh gods that tickles, ha!"

"Dost thou surrender, fair maiden?" he asked after a few more minutes of this treatment.

"I surrender, I surrender," she laughed, trapping his hands in her own. Their positions had shifted; they were lying side by side, nose to nose, across the width of the bed. The comforter was on the floor, and the sheets were in total disarray. She wasn't quite sure where the pillows were.

He gave her a huge grin and kissed the tip of her nose. Between them, their baby kicked gently out, tapping against Percy. His smile softened, and his eyes glowed with happiness, and all the breath that Annabeth had managed to regain was knocked out of her at the sight of him. _I love him so much_.

_"I know that I love her. We'll have a lot of years together. They'll be happy ones. All the best."_

"I love you," he whispered suddenly, and his eyes were locked with hers, and it was like they had a world all to their own, he and she and their little unborn child. She had never thought that life could be this perfect, or that she could be so happy.

She felt her nose tingling, and the familiar stinging in her eyes, but she did nothing to hold back the tears as they fell. He knew that they weren't tears of sadness, _knew_ it, but it still rubbed up against him the wrong way to see her cry. So he kissed away her tears, one by one, and then he touched his mouth to hers until her lips ceased their trembling and smiled against his.

The baby stirred in its place, pushing out against its father again, as though trying to touch him through his mother's skin. Percy gently placed his hand against her stomach, and pressed back with tenderness, and she kissed the corner of his mouth just because she could. _These have been the happiest thirty-four weeks of my life_, she thinks, and then she adds, _so far_, because her husband has just looked at her with eyes full of adoration and happiness and promises. And if she knows one thing about Percy, it's that he keeps his promises.

_"Well, I'm sure the Federation can find another woman somewhere who'll stop that war."_

The Star Trek ending theme hums through the room, and Percy whispers sweet things against the skin of her stomach, and she lies back and is content. In two more weeks, there will be a tiny head to kiss, and little hands to hold, and baby toes that Percy will marvel over and play with. In two more weeks, there will be concrete evidence that she can hold that shows how much her husband loves her. In two more weeks, Percy will lay with her in her hospital bed with their baby cradled between them. Two more weeks.


	9. months

**A/N**

HOLY CRAP. HI GUYS.

Okay, okay, I know that this is NOT the story y'all want updated. My bad. I've been away all summer, with little to no internet access and absolutely no free time whatsoever due to summer coursework. And here I was thinking senior year would be easy. (I was wrong. So very, very wrong.) And while updates will still be scarce (common app and college applications, anyone?), at least they will be more present this year, especially in the second semester-largely due to the enormous amount of blow-off classes I'll be taking. :D

Mkay, and pertaining to this story: this chapter and the next will both be continuations of the previous chapter, i.e. the universe where Percy and Annabeth are married and in possession of a tiny offspring. I just really love the idea of them as a family unit (and, okay, I adore little kids), so that will continue on for a while...not for too long, though, for those of you not so fond. Hope I don't scare anyone away ;)

Lots of love,

dnrl

(Exit, pursued by a bear)

* * *

**Fall into the Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

9: months

Light barely graced the far-off horizon; the sky above was still dark enough to show faint outlines of glimmering stars. The city of New York was far enough away that no noise disturbed the quiet air. A breeze stirred, ruffling the leaves of the trees and the grass in the sandy dunes of the beach. The ocean, ever-present, splashed a quiet response to the light sussurus. In the little white house on the beach, all was soft and silent save for the gentle brushing of the waves, the whispering of the wind, and the muted creak of a wooden rocking chair, easing _back_-and-_forth_, _back_-and-_fourth_.

The chair slowed and, finally, stopped, and the man sitting in it peeked carefully down at the tiny form in his arms. Eyelashes fluttered slightly open, showing little sea-green crescents, and the tiny nose crinkled as the baby began to snuff and wiggle in displeasure. The man leaned back and began to rock again, but now the rhythm had been broken and the infant would not be content. Sighing, he stood, carefully shifting the tiny body to his shoulder, cradling the soft downy head with a hand as it settled into the crook of his neck. He placed an absent-minded kiss on the crown of the child's head and walked to the window, bouncing softly with each step. He felt the baby's face relax against his neck and he smiled.

He could see the sun rising through the glass, peeking out over the ocean. It was officially a new day-an anniversary.

"Six months," he whispered against his daughter's head, staring out into the growing waves. "You're halfway to a year, baby girl." Almost in response, fingers curled into a fist on his chest, and she snuffled softly into his shoulder. He laughed and bounced her again.

"You're still so small." He patted her on the back, and her feet kicked out without real purpose. "I don't think I was ever this small. I mean, I guess I would've had to have been at some point, but...you're just. You're just so sweet and innocent and _soft_, and I know that you're going to do all these amazing things when you grow up...and you'll still be sweet and innocent and soft, just my little girl. Always. Will that annoy you? I bet it will." She yawned in reply. "How many boys am I going to have to scare away, huh? I bet you'll have a face to launch a hundred ships..."

"A thousand, Seaweed Brain."

He nearly jumped at his wife's voice, but managed to hold still enough to allow their daughter to sleep. He turned away to see her leaning against the door frame, his boxers slung low on her hips, a large white t-shirt (which he's also fairly sure is his) draped down over her shoulders. "A what?"

"If you're going to quote, at least do it properly. It's 'the face that launched a _thousand _ships.'" She was teasing him, he could tell by the look on her face as she sidled up, leaning against him and pressing an inaudible kiss to the small downy head that rested between them.

"I apologize for my blasphemy," he said with a smirk, leaning slightly down to capture her lips with his own for a brief, chaste kiss.

"Apology accepted. Now come back to bed-we still have an hour or two to sleep before we have to get ready."

"Ready?"

"Nice and Alison are coming for brunch." She paused and looked up at him, lips twisting in careful scrutiny. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"I plead the fifth," he evaded, carefully dodging a light blow and moving towards the crib. He jostles the gate with a knee, gently sliding it down and leaning over to place his cargo onto the fuzzy pink blanket. She began to fuss without opening her eyes, and he guided a small pink thumb towards her mouth. She drew it in and quieted. He placed another kiss on her forehead, drawing the corner of the blanket over her as he pulled the gate up and secured the latch. He stood there for another long moment, watching her chest rise and fall; he felt Annabeth pressed up against his back, her own chest mimicking their daughter's. He twined his fingers with hers, and she kissed between his shoulder blades.

"Thank you so much," he said finally, drawing back and turning to look at her. His voice was deliberately soft, just a shade above a whisper. Annabeth replied in an even quieter voice,

"Come on, Percy. Let's go back to bed."

She pulled him down the long, carpeted hallway, gently closing the wooden door to their room behind him, pushed him down onto the bed, and curled up against his side, warm and pliant. He felt their breathing even out in tandem, and his eyes fluttered shut. He was at peace, content, happy with what he had made of his life, with the people he had in it. Now, to relax and to rest...he couldn't hold back a smile as he remembered anew: it had been six whole months, now. Six months of soft fingers and little toes, six months of frilly dresses and big green eyes, six months of diapers and spit-up, six months of calling his mother or Annabeth's stepmom to figure out what had to be done, six months of occasional worry and frequent joy...six months.

A wail split the silent air.

Annabeth gave a little sob into his shirt. "I haven't slept for a whole night in _six months_!"

* * *

:D

Although it wasn't mentioned in this story, Baby Girl Jackson does have a name: Charlotte, nickname Charlie (for Beckendorf); her middle name is Silena.

Ta!


	10. years

**A/N**

. . .

hereguyshaveastoryI'msorryyyyy :(

* * *

**Fall Into The Sky**

_(a hundred moments, a single love)_

10: years

"_Mama_! Silas won't stop touching me!"

"_Nu-uh_!"

Her face dusted with flour and her fingers covered in chocolate frosting, Annabeth Jackson could only let out a half-desperate, half-exasperated sigh. "Silas, leave Charlie alone. Charlie, if your brother's bothering you so much, go somewhere he isn't."

"But _Mama_-!"

"Do you want this cake or not?" she demanded, turning her head halfway so she could just see the disgruntled little face peering at her from around the kitchen doorframe. Charlie's mouth and nose wrinkled in distaste at the concept before she caught sight of the bowl of chocolate icing at her mother's fingertips. Green eyes grew wide beneath an unruly mop-top of blonde curls (and this was the last time she'd let her husband brush her daughter's hair), and she bit her lip.

"Mama...hey, Mama..."

Annabeth laughed, turning back to her bowl. "No, baby girl."

"Aw, but _Mama_!"

"Not until it's on the cake and everyone's here."

"But that's not for, like, days!"

"They'll be here in half an hour, Charlie, don't exaggerate." She dipped the plastic spoon into the mixture and dolloped a healthy amount onto the smooth surface of the cooled devil's food cake. She could feel her daughter's intense stare on her arm as she smoothed the frosting out over the surface, coating the cake as much as she could before returning to the bowl for another scoop. It continued for about two more seconds before she felt the stare double in intensity. "Silas," she laughed, not turning around, "you can't have any either."

"Oh, good. I'm still in the running," replied a happy voice. She rolled her eyes and, turning, shot her husband a glare that was belied by the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"No, Seaweed Brain."

"Aw, but _Annabeth_!"

She laughed. "No, Percy!"

And then he was behind her, arms circling her waist and chin resting on her shoulder. "Aw, but _Annabeth_! Please? I've been so good. I cleaned and everything."

"Look at you, big macho man cleaning house for a bunch of two-year-olds."

"I still say we should've had a birthday party at one of those centers...Chuck E. Cheese, or something."

"Maybe when he's older, Percy, like Charlie. She had her five-year-old party at the bumper car arena-but she had all her birthdays before that here. I want them to associate birthday with family and home, not with wristbands and commercially-made cakes."

Percy huffed a laugh into the back of her neck, and she tried to ignore the pleasant goosebumps as she scraped more icing from the bowl onto the cake. "Oh, fine. Use logic to defeat me. You know my weaknesses too well, Wise Girl."

"That tends to happen after twelve years of marriage."

He stilled behind her, just breathing against her skin. She paused, too, enjoying the quiet moment. She could hear Charlie playing with her brother on the deck out back ("This balloon is _red_!" "Wed!"), the soft, rhythmic sounds of the waves breaking on the not-too-distant beach, the quiet ticking of the clock, the soft melody of the chimes, and the gentle pattern of Percy's breaths brushing against her neck. She turned her head towards him and her mouth met his, and he tasted just as new and just as sweet and just as right as he had for the past twelve years.

The moment was broken with a cry of, "_MAMA!_ Silas fell off the deck!"

Percy laughed audibly into the kiss, breaking away but returning for a fleeting reminder. "I'll take care of it," he replied, and, quick as a flash, he dipped his whole hand into the icing bowl and vanished out of the doorway to the deck. She broke out laughing, clutching at the counter.

"_Percy Jackson_! Stop stealing my icing, or no cake for you!"

Brushing little mirthful tears from the corners of her eyes, she returned to her bowl of icing and her cake. She scooped in one finger, carefully licking it clean before she continued.

_Twelve wonderful, wonderful years._

* * *

**A/N**

Hi...

So, um, yeah. Silas (named for Silena) is turning two, and Charlie just turned five. Charlie has blond hair and green eyes (as mentioned in the story), and Silas has black hair and gray eyes (as not mentioned in the story; sorry about that). And...yeah. That's about it.


End file.
